Opening Weekend of Phantom Fall Fest at Lake Compounce

By Nancy Sasso Janis

Bristol - The full moon must have cast a spell for rain on Lake Compounce for their opening weekend. The Lake was closed on the scheduled opening night on Friday due to inclement weather. All tickets dated for that day will be valid any one operating day through Phantom Fall Fest. The next day was scheduled to run from noon to 10 p.m., but due to rainy weather it opened at 5 p.m. and allowed guests to fright all night.

Park guests on the condensed opening weekend were the first to experience the new and improved indoor maze mAlice in Wonderland 3D (that may leave you mad as a hatter) and all new scare zones like Deadsville and Sinister Circus. The horrifying haunted mazes had growing lines as the opening night progressed, and imported fog took over sections of the park. The scare actors that roamed the park in great costumes and impressive makeup and hair.

The chainsaw-toting character is back for those of us that attended the Halloween event back in the day.

The usual eating locations were open and most of the rides were operational as well. There were short lines for some of the rides, but Ghost Hunt had the usual full waiting area. The parking lot was full of monster puddles due to the rain.

Creepy crawlers emerge from the ground on Friday 6 as Lake Compounce continues Phantom Fall Fest with an out-of-this-worm contest.

Park-goers are invited to put their guts to the test for the ultimate prize beginning at 7 p.m. near the park’s carousel as they participate in the first-ever Phantom's Earthworm Challenge. America’s First Amusement Park is looking for five brave and hungry souls to take on the earthworm eating contest as constants compete for unique prizes including four 2024 Season Passes, an Apple Watch, Nintendo Switch Lite, Apple AirPods, an exclusive earthworm t-shirt and most notably, the accolade of earthworm-eating glory.

The park will allow a maximum of five participants and the winner will be determined guest judge Adam Rivers of KISS 95.7 and the Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano. The courageous few who step forward will be challenged to slurp down ten earthworms as fast as humanly possible.

There are monster perks for season passholders and, when the park is able to open at noon, lots of daytime activities for the whole family. Guests can thrill all day on their favorite rides, then fright all night with even more horror around every corner. Many were hanging on to their friends through more fog and more freaks.

There is a bag policy in place that bags larger than eight inches by five inches are not permitted into the park. The only exceptions are diaper and medical bags. Guests 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult of at least 21 years of age, and chaperones may not escort more than four guests into the park. Masks that cover some or all of a person’s face are not permitted for use by any guest after 6 p.m. with the only exceptions are surgical masks or N98/KN95 masks.

Tickets are just $29.99 for a limited time. lakecompounce.com/.../Phantom.../select-visitors

All photos by Nancy Sasso Janis